Synacor And Cinemanow To Offer Video-On-Demand Services Through Internet Access Providers

March 4th 2003

BUFFALO, March 4, 2003 — Synacor, the leader in online content provisioning for Internet access providers, today announced an agreement with CinemaNow, Inc. that will enable ISPs working with Synacor to offer CinemaNow video-on-demand along with their connectivity services. The deal will enable consumers who receive their Internet access through one of Synacor’s customers to stream and download movie selections from CinemaNow’s library of more than 3,000 feature length films for enjoyment on their PC. The CinemaNow service will be bundled as part of exclusive premium content packages being offered by Synacor customers, including Susquehanna Communications and FairPoint Communications.

“We believe that movies on demand, delivered through the Internet, will become increasingly popular among savvy broadband users and we are very happy to have partnered with CinemaNow, a pioneer in this market, to deliver this service to our access provider customers,” said Ron Frankel, president and CEO of Synacor.

“As the quantity and quality of CinemaNow’s film library increases, we are continually looking for ways to bring our content to the growing number of high-speed Internet users,” said Bruce Eisen, executive vice president of CinemaNow. “Working with Synacor allows us to reach a large consumer base of broadband subscribers while seamlessly integrating our offer with a wide range of premiere content providers for a simple and appealing user experience.”

Synacor’s Portelus™ platform enables the integration and provisioning of both video and non-video content and services from multiple content providers. Using the Portelus platform, access providers can customize their offerings into different subscription tiers and bill for content access along with their monthly service charge, much like the cable TV industry. Unified registration, single sign-on and integrated billing make the experience seamless for their subscribers. Synacor’s end-to-end solution includes a wide menu of licensed content, an integration and unification system, and a brandable and customizable portal framework.

The Online Publishers Association reports that U.S. consumers spent $975 million for online content in the first nine months of 2002, up 125 percent from the year prior.

About Synacor
Synacor (www.synacor.com) brings the cable television model to the Internet by enabling access providers to offer basic and premium content subscription packages to their customers in a compelling and easy-to-use manner. The company’s end-to-end solution helps narrowband, broadband and wireless access providers to quickly deploy these value-added services and recognize an immediate positive impact on customer retention and revenues per subscriber. Synacor’s Portelus platform delivers the combined strength of a flexible, brandable Internet portal framework, a robust provisioning engine, a unified back end, and a menu of standard and premium content from the industry’s top providers. With offices in Buffalo, New York and Los Angeles, Synacor powers a national network of customers.

About CinemaNow
CinemaNow, Inc. (www.cinemanow.com) is the world leader in Internet-based video-on-demand (VOD) and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) distribution and technology. CinemaNow has also developed PatchBay, a proprietary video-on-demand content distribution and management system that runs the CinemaNow Web site, and is available as a licensable technology solution. Current PatchBay licensors include such diverse partners as Walker Asia and Chunghwa Telecom (film distribution), NHL.com (sports programming), Phish (musical group), CenterSpan (peer-to-peer network) and Arescom (hotel broadband provider). CinemaNow is majority owned by Lions Gate Entertainment (AMEX: LGF).